I have coached youth sports for several years. I started out helping our preacher in Fort Worth when he was coaching his son's team, then helping a friend here coach his son's team and the last nine years or so coaching my daughter and son's teams. I've coached basketball (my passion), baseball (a growing passion because my son loves it) and soccer (I was completely clueless) and had great experiences in all of them. My goal in coaching has always been to 1) make it fun and 2) teach fundamentals that will help the children as they grow. I've been around too many youth coaches who coach to win now and don't help the kids develop. It used to really get under my skin. I remember coaching one of my son's early games and the other coach put her tallest player on my shortest player all in an effort to score more points in the last quarter and win. At that time we couldn't change the players around once we placed them and we were stuck in that predicament. What did it do to my little guys enjoyment of basketball? What did it teach her tall kid? They won and in the end they got the same medal we did and I'm pretty sure the kid didn't sign a scholarship or pro contract after the game.
I coach because I want to see the kids succeed in the years to come. Winning or losing a game today isn't the most important thing (even though I replay the losses in my mind for hours after a game). My hope is that what I teach them now will prepare them for what they will do in the future. That is the real success in coaching.
I pray that in the end, they won't just learn basketball or baseball from me but something greater. I hope I can touch them in a way that will open the door to something far greater than athletic success but success in making the decisions that will carry them through eternity.
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